Last Saturday

Last Saturday we were in Colorado. Berthoud, Colorado, to be exact. It was my father's funeral. The reason he was taken to Colorado was that both his parents and his oldest brother are buried there, and he wanted to be next to them. He and Teresa had made the arrangements while he was still able to. And it went a lot more smoothly than I had expected, as there were quite a few setbacks with the cemetery and such. You'd think that in a business where you sold land to people to be buried in, you would have information where vaults and such would fit. Sadly, no. After about three tries, it seemed that they finally figured it out. I'm just glad they didn't give my stepmom a heart attack in the process.


Anyway, I'm posting about it. Not only for my memories, but because a lot of you have asked. For the record, I know I'm taking the easy way out by not thanking each and everyone of you individually. But I am begging each of you to please understand. I'm all about the easy way right now. Those of you that have left comments, warm thoughts, messages, flowers, treats, gifts...and so on and so forth, thank you all so much. I've been overwhelmed, but in a really nice way.

The funeral was actually really nice. Jeff did the program for me--and he drew a portrait of my father as a boy. As usual, he did an excellent job. I didn't have any programs left, otherwise I would have posted a copy of it. My sisters Lora and Muffy and my brother Jessey all wrote down memories of Dad, and I wrote a poem on the back. I think Dad would have liked it. He would have been touched by the memories and the nice things that were written. For those of you that wondered, yes, I sang. I was having a really hard time carrying the tune, and I shook the whole time, so I wasn't entirely audible, and I'm glad that no one got it on film. But, I did it. I did it for Dad, and I like to think he appreciated my effort.

Cole ended up taking my video camera and taking various pictures of people and headstones and such. At first I was a little concerned that it was probably not the most kosher activity during a funeral, however, after looking at the photos, and the random things that he captured, I'm happy that he did. There's no way I would have felt comfortable taking pictures of people, but he doesn't have a problem with it. At all.

Jeff and Riley and Cole and Syd were there for me the whole time. Syd got tired of being held, and it was either listen to her complain or let her crawl around. Yet another thing that was probably trashy...as she seemed to make herself at home all over other's headstones...but, she was content.

My stepmom, Teresa asked me to kind of orchestrate the program, so I had to do a lot more speaking than I had planned on, but I think it went well. Lora, Muff, and Jess were there to help and carry out certain parts of the program, as well. We were all there for each other, and after all the ongoing family drama that we've had, it was such a relief to just take comfort in each other's presence. I realized how grateful I am for my siblings. I mean, I know I love them, but there isn't anyone that knows what my life was like better than they do, there isn't anyone that can relate to me on that level the way they can, because they were there. That's a powerful part of family--just knowing how an individual came to be the person they are today--being there for so many of those milestones.


A lot of people there, I didn't know. They were friends of my father's. They had in common that he'd affected their lives in a positive way. He was a man that always looked out for those in need, and was willing to help where he could, and he was charitable. A couple of his friends had been on the receiving end of his charity. And I was proud of him. To help that many people-to help them profoundly and quietly is such an admirable thing. I want to be that way, as well.


Probably one of the greatest things about last weekend was getting to be with my half sister and brother. It's not like all those years of not knowing each other are now eliminated, but we got kind of connected, and it was so weird to see how alike we all are, despite not knowing each other for so long. There are some things that are totally genetic. My brother Jayson, and my sister, Shelly are on the right side.

On the way home we stopped at Lora and Mark's house in Laramie. They recently had it built and it's beautiful. All hard wood flooring and nice fixtures and stuff that I will probably never have, but can truly appreciate. She and her husband fixed us dinner and let us hang out for a while before we started the long drive home. As we were there, my brother Jessey and his wife Gabby showed up, and then Muffy and Chris. I had to get a picture of just us. It's been years since we've been in the same area. And sometimes it's so surreal to see that we are all adults and we're living our own lives.


And that was that. There was a lot more, but it's so late, and my eyes are drooping and I'm just feeling that exhaustion that makes you unable to move anything. So I'll bid you all a goodnight. But again, thanks so much for being such great friends and family. That truly means so much to me, and I'm grateful that I've been so blessed to have such great people in my life. Love to you all.